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While little is known of the Flemish composer and violinist Pierre van Maldere’s early life, the documentary evidence indicates that, by the age of seventeen he had found employment as a violinist in his native Brussels with the famed and much admired chapelle royale, the court orchestra of the ruling Austrian government. Within three years Maldere had been promoted to concertmaster, a position he maintained until 1751 when he successfully petitioned for a leave of absence to travel. Two years in Dublin, during which time his renown as a virtuoso violinist was supplemented by a growing reputation as a gifted composer, was followed by a brief but highly successful relationship with the great Parisian concert-giving society, the Concert spirituel. Visits to Austria and Bohemia as part of the entourage of the Governor-General of the Netherlands gave Maldere the opportunity to present his first two operas, both in the French style. In 1762 the composer became director of the Brussels Grand Theatre, although the exhausting workload compounded by financial worries forced Maldere to resign in 1767, a year before his demise.

(Contribution by Raúl Izaguirre Avila <rizaguiyahoo.com>.)

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